Lainofthenet's Anime

Who's hip anyway? It gets the master evaluation because of the freakin' good music. Another thing...translations can make or break anime. When big studios get something like this it can be a disaster. I have seen an alternate translation of this and sometimes I think big companies are afraid of subtle dialogue. Another thing...I don't like the take the NA voice acter has on Jet. The original voice is a better fit. Why would you watch this in English? Go watch Batman cartoons !! The one nice thing about the NA disc is the fact that Yoko Kanno is featured. She is such a great artist and it was wonderful to hear her talking about the movie and series. It was also wonderful hearing something other than "I am proud to be part of such a famous and challenging project. I hope that you will bear with me and I will do my best". Nobody writes for this lady and I wouldn't think anyone could.

When I first saw Lain I was blown away by the opening and the music. Throughout the series I was constantly asking myself "what is going on?" Each episode answered some questions and posed more. I liked the implication that if a person has interacted with the net a part of that person lives on forever. I found that some of the implications on the nature of reality to be stunning. I have come to identify with Lain and her struggle to understand and maintain her sense of self in a time when technology is becoming more and more demanding. The issues of identity theft and of human evolution are discussed. Each time I view the series I get something new out of it. P.S. Heres the thing - a while ago someone on another site had a contest and I thought about whether I wanted to be involved. 10 days later I started writing this. I have never felt so tired and worn out afterwards. Writing is hard. Anyway mine is the second. http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30817

Well here's the thing. I know people who identify with a character like Miyu and sometimes I am one of them. She really isn't into saving humans just getting rid of the Shinma that are often abusing them. I got this fantasy about Sailormoon and gang showing up and confronting her about this tendency of not really saving the people. I think the episode about the "plain Jane" type and the magic red shoes comes to mind. Sure she gets rid of the demon but then she leaves the poor girl in a catatonic state in a mental hospital. This is not a very good alternative especially since Miyu helps put her there. Ah well I guess the dead are supposed to be dark in their attitudes.

This is something I found very hard to rate. I gave the highest rating mainly because it does what it sets out to do. The subject material is tough and that should count for something when rating. I also think this is something more people should see. There are some things about it that bother me in a technical sense. The dub, which I did not rate, hurts my ears. I have heard dubs I like but this is not one of them. The "King" is my main example of this. If all insane leaders were as pathetic as this it would be much easier to be rid of them. His voicing on both versions is bad. There is no other word for it. Literally he is not convincing as a feared leader. A hated one - yes indeed, but I cannot believe someone simply did not shoot him and be done with it. I recognize that anyone doing this would have been killed shortly after - people like him are so paranoid that they always have back-up plans but dying would be preferable to serving this idiot. I think his depiction does the series a disservice by making him look overly comedic. In reality people like him can appear very calm and at times seem to be reasonable and charming. Many insane people have gained political power by this outward persona and it is wrong to think that all maniacs look and talk like maniacs. What the series does best is to show what happens to children around the world and in history when they are used and abused. This is depicted very well. I also felt that maybe at 13 episodes that there simply wasn't enough time to tell a proper story about some of the characters. A back story on the King may have made him more believable and in some cases characters are introduced and killed before we get a chance to know them. Some of these characters like "Sis" are easy to grow fond of even though their series life is short. The artwork reminds me (and bugs me) a bit of "King Of The Hill" in that some of the kids remind me of "Bobby Hill"...shudder...but it is a consistent style. I can't really be bothered so much about that simply because we have become used to a certain "My-Hime" look these days. All in all it is not something I would put on for a good time or with new anime people but would show it if requested. As a whole it is a really good piece of work.

So if you have a job nobody else can handle ...and if you can find them, maybe you can hire Mithril too. I really like the comedy in this series. The deadpan delivery by Souska when confronted by a teacher because he has brought "replica" weapons to school is just delicious.This is one series that I kinda liked the dubbed version as much as the subbed.

One of the things I liked was the style of animation. Visually the series is stunning although at times I found the effects used on the clothing and hair distracting. It is a very complex anime with a lot happening on screen at any given time. The characters are well drawn and I had no problems keeping track of who was who. That said, I had a problem relating or caring for the people depicted. Having known poverty has caused me to not care much for the soap operas of the rich except for the fact that when the rich fall so do so many of the unknowing poor around them. Not something I would recommend for purchase although it really needs to be viewed on a high def screen.

Ok I finally rate this one and in doing so I know I will satisfy no one - including myself. Right now the fool next door is blasting a bit of her new stereo and the CFL regulation size (with artificial turf no less) high school football field is readying itself for another in a series of never ending games. Around me my neighbors fight and to dull my paranoia I take a half ritalin so I can perhaps focus in. I rate this anime "masterpiece". Why? Well certainly not because of all the times that Haruhi approaches normalcy due to her incredible friends. In Next Gen Guinan said once that the worst thing she could think of was someone "being just like everyone else..." and I agree. It's not because all characters are derivative of other anime characters as John on another site says and I agree with. It's not because I find Yuki so very cool although I do. It is because I can tell a lot of work and thought went into this series. The puns and cultural references in it are mind boggling and I can see someone having one heck of a time dubbing it or even deciding on what to include as extras when it is finally released in region 1. I think a book should come with it to explain all the cute and profound refs that most of us will never catch but should. Favorite moments include: In the student film the inability of Mikuru's classmate to suspend her disbelief, the idea that when one becomes depressed reality can shrink like a bubble and become gray, the incredible animation and coordination of the music and the songs themselves performed by ENOZ. This series seems to make a lot of people happy and it has on this website inspired some pretty cool debate. It makes people happy and right now with the way the world is I think we all need a little happy.

It is easy to see why the main character Lucy would become a killer. The fragmentation of her personality is understandable and I wonder whether the Diclonius children and their propensity to kill at a certain age is inborn or caused by the conditions forced on them. Certainly anyone given the use of Vectors at such an early age would be a recipe for disaster. I found that the fragmentation of Kohta to be more typical. The loss of memory and the habit of becoming physically ill when the memories come to close to the surface. Lucy compared to Nana is like comparing a street kid to a completely sheltered child. It should be noted that Nana was not a pampered child, far from it, but knew little of the outside world. In this she reminds me of most abused children in that to her the rules of home were not necessarily wrong to her as she had nothing to compare them to. I wonder about Mayu and how Wanta came to be with her. There is a scene in which the newfound pup is taken from her by a woman who calls it "James". At one point I was wondering whether Mayu had taken the dog back and if so how had she done this. Considering the tone of the series I almost expected a flashback scene showing a slaughtered family with Mayu walking away with the pup. The visuals, especially the cherry blossoms in the wind, are quite beautiful. I can see how the ending is open for a sequel but I don't know what else is to be said.

I recently bought the new 2 disc release of this. Pom Poko was the second fansub I ever viewed ...way back in the beginning. The DVD release is beautiful but I really wish that the end song was translated and subbed. I still have a blurry fansub of it on tape just because of that final song. It is strange to me that people almost always know Miyazaki but often forget Takahata. Maybe running the studio prevents him from directing more. I have a friend who loves racoons and I remember having some little ones dropping crab apples on my head one late night as I was sweet talking a lady. I love things that show the spirits and various gods that are said to inhabit Japan and while we don't see them in person the Tanuki are capable of mimicking what some of them might look like. The parade sequence is amazing and just too short. It is a story about nature and ecology from a time when such things were a concern to us. Sadly these issues are still a concern and I am convinced we are all doomed with what we are doing to the planet and ourselves. The fact that pollution and disappearing habitat are still the same big issues as they were in my youth convinces me that nothing (FLCL) really changes at all. I love this film and it is one of my all time favs ... it reminds me of when I was younger, had more energy and when we thought environmental issues had a chance of being addressed. Makes me cry every time I see it.

I first saw a bit of this series at a sf convention. I have since bought the entire series. As I watched it I found that the process of discovery, along with the characters, to be fascinating. I understood early that the Haibane were the result of young people committing suicide. I felt that at the conclusion of the series that the main comment on suicide was that the sin, if it is a sin, could be in not recognizing that sometimes there is help available or people that care. The sin would seem to be in not recognizing that. I felt that when Rakka was told that she had been forgiven by the crow (an unknown person who wanted to help?) and when Reki finally asked for help that their struggle to understand themselves was much closer to resolution. This is a very serious series about a subject not often talked about but one that I found to be somewhat hopeful in it's tone.

I delayed rating this until I had copies of my own. I read on the blog of the company that holds the license had to change their DVD duplicator. Now I've read since then they were doing new disc checks in February - March 06 with the new DVD pressing company. Problem with the big unfriendly oppressor of the poor (Toronto) is that this city seems to consider itself a world class city, It isn't - it's more like Hartford - just more spread out. We have one and only one SF bookstore because nobody will buy books. I wanted the discs in my hands because I didn't want to tell people around here about the series only to have the last few copies available disappear on me. Turns out that was a good move. In the downtown core there may be one set left. Of course it can be had on bootleg but I will tell you now...the purple stuff on those discs is an organic dye. They will not last.
Now that that is off my chest on to the review. Get it. Buy it. Get it as singles or get it in a set. Get it with green eggs and ham...get it. I first watched it in one sitting subtitled. It was amazing. The colours are brilliant and the music (the pillows) is f - freaking good. The characters are all fun people, a father with an Eva complex, a grandpa who has problems with the new housekeeper, a robot who aspires to greater things, a young boy who has to deal with things popping out of his head, his homeless girlfriend (used to be his brother's girlfriend), an alien on a Vespa and various cats in support roles...pant pant pant!!! Here's the reason I watched it English the second time: There is so much happening on screen that it has to be seen this way as well. And guess what...the voices work. They work in the way that the voices worked in the MAXX. The voices fit the characters and the script is only slightly altered. There are outtakes on the discs and director commentary on the third audio channel along with the subs for that. These disc are expensive here cuz our dollar is weak and we have one hell of a health system...damn off topic again. They are worth the price. And guess what according to the NA blog there is merchandise coming out soon. Scrolls, plush toys, and all manner of stuff like tee-shirts. Anyway I hope I have gotten the point across that the series is great...now go buy the copies you can find.

From the opening theme to the closing credits Cowboy Bebop is a class act. Without exception the characters are all ones that are easy to care about. Even the villians are people that have become what they are for various reasons and are not the typical take-over the world kind I have come to detest. All the characters are complex and come with interesting backstories. The series is fun to look at with locations all over the solar system. There are moments of high humour such as the quest for a working vcr on a mostly deserted earth only to find Spike and Jet have brought back the wrong type. I found at times in the series the music just grabbed my attention. You got jazz, rock, the blues and it all compliments the various plot lines. There are no fillers in this series because in my opinion every episode says something important.

Following is a fake interview for entertainment purposes only. SO ORIGINALLY "Gin-iro no kami no Agito" WAS MEANT TO BE A 26 EPISODE SERIES? Yes we were approached by the manga-ka who had desired for many years to make a anime of the original work. We enthusiastically began designing the look of the series after basic funding was in place and formed the Agito committee. We worked with various people and companies to combine 2 and 3d effects. LIKE IN LAST EXILE? Well yes but in that example we had become derailed when one of our design people had read that the USS Excelsior was based on an American idea of what the new Enterprise of Star Trek would look like if it had been designed by an anime company. HOW DOES THIS CONNECT WITH THE FILM IN QUESTION? Well...while we were able to complete Last Exile and answer back to the question of how we would design a new starship for Star Trek we found that we had to divert some of the money from the "Gin-iro no kami no Agito" project to do this. I THINK IT WAS A NICE DESIGN AS WELL. Thank you so do we but.... we found that we had a lot of effects for the new series and very little money after that and even the double - planet design of "Last Exile" suffered. Some actually thought that it was a space station of some type and we apologize for the work that would give such an impression. In a way we hope that the film will make up for some of the disappointments caused by some poor decision making in the past in that we gathered all the finished effects into one film. We are quite proud of it and did our best to make it an enjoyable experience for the viewer. I ADMIT I DID FEEL AT TIMES THE CHARACTERS WERE DOING TOO MUCH FOR THE TIME LENGTH OF THE FILM. Well...we too feel this...for example our main character would not have turned into a tree until at least the halfway point and then his motives would have remained unclear. ONE SHOT REMINDED ME OF AN EARLY SUPERMAN CARTOON FROM NORTH AMERICA.... Ah yes the one near the end. There is a memorable scene in "Superman and the Magnetic Telescope" wherein Superman must prevent a comet from striking the earth but fails to do so. We always felt that had he tried harder and not been worried about Miss Lane he would have done so. YES THE SHADES FALLING AWAY AFTER WERE A NICE TOUCH. Some things are hard to resist. THERE IS SOME CONFUSION WITH DEAD OR TRANSFORMED CHARACTERS SHOWING UP AT THE END OF THE FILM. This is called a curtain call but we at the studio assure you that once you turn into a tree you generally remain a tree. We all did our best to make the film enjoyable and have many projects in the future that we hope the fans will look forward to. THANKS FOR THIS. (Oh don't get all bent I kinda liked it. :) )

Better known to it's fans as plain ole "Emma". When I first saw the package I thought there was a good chance it was hentai. But I hoped not and what I got was a sweet little short series. Not likely to be licensed here but that is the loss of the NA fan. Originally it was supposed to be longer and in manga form it continues. Considering it ended early I thought the anime was acceptable in that it reflected that sometimes things just don't work out. It is an reasonable way to end something and still acknowledge the joys of the journey.

All righty. So this guy named Hideki Motosuwa is fresh from the farm and going to cram school. One day he is walking though an alley and stumbles across this really cute walking computer. At that moment she isn't really walking-she has been thrown in the garbage. So he takes her home and "boots" her up. Does this happen often in Japan? I think I may need to move there. She is beyond cute. One of the issues that comes up in the show is that we may have, at some point in the future, computer companions. If they are as good as Chii then I believe the possibility does exist that some may fall in love with them. Then I suppose the issue of free will and rights would need to be addressed at on behalf of the persocoms. With regards to Hideki - I find him attractively drawn as Chii is. He has that same innocent charm. The opening titles are cool to watch and I think that the way the two characters are shown, along with the music, is consistent with the way the two of them are in the actual series. I know that this is a type of anime that seems to throw a lot of women at one guy and then go for laughs. But there are elements of mystery and drama here. Who is Chii and why is she so obviously different from other persocoms. There are also the comedic moments that arise out of Hideki's innocent reactions to Chii's learning curve.

A gunslinger in red, a priest, two incredible women and a black cat that seems to pop up every episode. I like the series except for the point midway through when the anime diverges from the manga. It loses some direction for a bit but finishes strong. Favorite character has to be Milly although why she isn't called "machine gun" Milly I'll never know. Of course that would be misleading as none of the characters are really violently inclined. Violence just seems to happen in spite of their intentions. One thing I wonder about is whether the black cats are indigenous to the planet or were brought with the settlers.

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